From dancing robots and app-enabled puzzles to great new building sets and family games, the latest toys we're seeing at this year's Toy Fair are sure to bring the fun.

From dancing robots and app-enabled puzzles to great new building sets and family games, the latest toys we're seeing at this year's Toy Fair are sure to bring the fun.

1 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

New Twists on Classic Toys

From puzzles to blocks and stickers to molding clay, toy makers are finding new ways to reinvent old favorites for the 21st century. These interpretations may just be expansions and add-ons, but plenty of companies are finding ways to reimagine old favorites with high-tech or digital components, or even renewed focus on learning. While wooden building blocks are a tried-and-true favorite, manufacturers are incorporating novel elements to them — from mix and match sets to associated reading books, there are extended play options. And puzzles are getting a major overhaul — we are seeing vertical puzzles (ones you build upwards for added dimension), spherical puzzles, monochromatic puzzles, and more.

It's not a novel concept that kids want to be like their parents. Just like us, they are surrounded by tech now, and toy makers are responding by coming out with more and more versions of gadgets that are built simple enough for curious little ones to enjoy — and strong enough to stand up to all sorts of abuse. Parents can breathe a sigh of relief because this means you may no longer have to hand over your iPad to your child to keep him happy — instead give him a less expensive kid-friendly tablet. And the content on these devices is curated so you can set controls that will limit what he has access to. And unlike some of the kid "tablets" of the past, these don’t require the purchase of additional cartridges since many run on the Android operating system. We're also seeing plenty of kid-friendly MP3 players, cameras, camcorders, stereo sets, and more.

Pictured: Oregon Scientific's new Meep tablet runs on the Android operating system. Kids get limited access to apps and parents can control what sites children visit through the Meep web portal.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

3 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

Tech Tie-Ins

If your little one prefers your iPhone to her playthings, you're not alone. Toy makers are capitalizing on kids' interest in gadgets with a whole host of extensions for everything from smartphones to tablets, to make play even more interactive. These range from games that use the surface of your tablet as a board to balls and puzzles that offer extended fun through custom apps for your smartphone.

Pictured: If your little one is puzzle-obsessed, she'll love seeing her creation come to life on your iPhone or iPad 2 with Ravensburger's Augmented Reality Puzzles. Each puzzle unlocks a different activity in the related app; kids can spot fish in the aquarium-puzzle game and can get a virtual tour of the City of Lights with the Paris set.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

4 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

Film-Inspired Fun

What kid doesn't love owning a part of his favorite movie? Film and superhero tie-ins are nothing new, of course, but more companies than ever before are embracing them. We spotted Star Wars and Lord of the Rings toys, Avengers electronics, and Nickelodeon- and Disney-inspired gear around every corner at Toy Fair.

More specific than educational toys, many of the sets we're seeing emphasize learning a more specific skill set that can be directly applied to an interest or career. These aspirational toys direct kids to channel their passions — whether it be for cooking, fashion, construction, artwork, or science. For instance, we're seeing sets that highlight the properties of electricity and circuits for budding engineers, building sets that stretch the imaginations of future architects, and adventurer action figures for future explorers. Of course, we may just be partial to the science toys!

Pictured:Little Bits sets highlight the properties of electricity and circuits for budding engineers. The starter kit will set you back $89; extra components are sold separately and range from $10 to $40.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

6 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

On-the-Go Gear

Toy companies know that you need to keep your little one entertained wherever you are, and they're adapting toys and coming up with new ideas to accommodate that. We saw plenty of great on-the-go variations, and they're not just the standard travel trays of yesteryear. Some incorporate popular car trip games while others introduce new twists on old classics like Scrabble, and all offer added perks like built-in learning and multiple variations of play, all contained in a compact set.

Pictured: Melissa & Doug's take on that old favorite, the license plate game, makes it easy to keep score. Just flip the wooden plates on their side; they're color coded for red and blue teams. The back side of the plates list state capitals for an extra dose of geography.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

7 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

Wallet-Friendly Collectibles

The recession is playing out in the toy world in the form of inexpensive collectible lines. Each individual item may be as cheap as a couple bucks, but kids can build sets, unlock online worlds, and trade with their friends. Lines we're seeing are encompassing everything from coin purses and pencils to action figures and flash drives and they're geared for both boys and girls.

Pictured: These goofy Poptropica figurines and plush toys are designed by Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney and each item unlocks extras in a dynamic online island-based gaming world built just for kids.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

8 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

Active Games

We can certainly appreciate a toy that gets kids up and moving. There's definitely an emphasis on active games this year and — more importantly — on getting kids excited about getting fit. We're particularly excited about toys we're seeing that use the rules of physics to get kids into sports (think wiffle balls that help you throw the perfect curve ball) and some great new living room-friendly sports sets for keeping active during the colder months.

Pictured: We loved TheO from Physical Apps: Just insert your smartphone into this big orange foam ball, and kids will be coached through an assortment of games and exercises ranging from hot potato to lawn bowling. You can also pair the phone with a laptop via Bluetooth during play for added fun on a bigger screen. The set will be available in May for $24.95.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

9 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

Robotic Friends

What kid doesn't love robots? It's hard not to with adorable devices like the dancing robots we've been seeing on the show floor. This year's crop boast a whole host of new moves as robotic technology advances. Other cool robots we're seeing can draw, battle, and do tricks on command.

Pictured: Tosy's Robo Disco may just be a prototype, but it definitely drew a crowd on the show floor. This charismatic dancing fool boasts a whole host of moves and will groove to whatever music you have on. It won't be out until fall, but we're looking forward to more fun with this adorable 'bot.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

10 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

Even More Fun Online

Online extensions to physical toys are nothing new: See Disney's Club Penguin and Pixie Hollow. This year's toys are taking it the next logical step, building in more social aspects and using online resources to inform offline play. Most of these extend the play beyond the basic physical toy — and provide backstories or entire worlds for your kid's favorite toys. Others offer extended activity beyond those in the instruction manual or boast online communities for more fun play ideas.

Pictured: The Science Club from Magic School Bus is not just a mail-order experiment kit that illustrates a different scientific concept each month; it also includes an online clubhouse with kid-friendly learning links and a monthly newsletter with extra experiments kids can conduct using items you probably already have around the house. The Science Club also boasts a Facebook community for more tips and tricks. Individual kits are $19.99 (including shipping and handling).

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

11 of 12

Nicole Price Fasig

A Little Bit of Nostalgia

This crop of toys is for all the parents who grew up loving the '80s — and hope their kids will too. From electronics emblazoned with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Care Bear plush toys and DVDs, and from Pac-Man to Wizard of Oz, toy makers are embracing the nostalgic favorites wholeheartedly, while updating popular topics with toy technology for the 21st century.

Many of the new toys we're seeing let kids throw out the rulebook; half the fun and creativity comes in imagining what the games and toys can be instead of having a dictated outcome. We're especially seeing this in the realm of games, with sets that don't have a clear path to victory; instead they leave the outcomes open to your little one's interpretation through fun opportunities for kids to stretch their imaginations and steer gameplay. The idea here: Toys and games might never get old when the kids write the rules.

Pictured: ThinkFun's Yackety Smack! is a fast-paced card game where kids compete to record their own interpretations of visual cards into an included microphone. (Think, for instance, what sounds could a splat make? Or an opera singer? Or a karate master?) Yackety Smack! is available now for $17.99.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.